McGiffin to Head Chamber Foundation; Ensminger Named Events Coordinator

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Michael McGiffin has been named the director of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber Foundation. He will oversee all aspects of the foundation, which supports many of the Mahoning Valley’s most important economic development activities.

In recent years, the foundation has built support to launch new programming such as the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Commission, the JobsNow workforce development program and EMERGE, helping local businesses recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

McGiffin, of Poland, will also be charged with restarting Leadership Mahoning Valley; continuing a series of networking events that generate business opportunities, and overseeing operations of the Warren Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Foundation and Warren Area Chamber of Commerce Education, Civic and Cultural Foundation.

Most recently, McGiffin was project manager of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in Pittsburgh, guiding its OnRamp to Remote Learning initiative for 42 school districts.
 
He was the chief strategy officer at Stambaugh Auditorium and director of Events and Special Projects for the city of Youngstown. In these positions, he spearheaded downtown growth through entertainment and events, the addition of way-finding signs, the “City of You” rebrand effort and by advocating for over $6 million in property and financial donations for Stambaugh Auditorium and planning the current historic restoration project.

The Regional Chamber has also hired Samantha Ensminger as events coordinator. She will assist with logistics and reservations for the organization’s nearly 100 events, as well as coordinate ribbon-cutting celebrations. 

Ensminger, of Girard, worked most recently as a copywriter for Advantage Video Production and Marketing, writing scripts, web content and social media copy. She had similar responsibilities as a copywriter at J. Saul Campbell & Co., where she also organized and oversaw events for clients.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.